TV star Ashley Williams moves to big screen in 'Something Borrowed'

Ashley Williams stars as Claire in "Something Borrowed" opening in theaters on Friday.

Working on a major motion picture has been an experience of a lifetime for Ashley Williams, 32.

Williams, who was born in New York State and spent summers in the Berkshires, will star in the film “Something Borrowed” with Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin and John Kraskinski.

“It was a dream come true,” said Williams of the film that is being released on Friday.

“Getting this movie was one of the great miracles of my life,” she added. “The movie is amazing.”

“Something Borrowed,” originally a novel written by Emily Giffin, tells the story of how friendships are tested when single girl Rachel (Goodwin) falls for Dex (Colin Egglesfield), her best friend Darcy’s (Hudson) fiancé.

“‘Something Borrowed’ is looking like a romantic comedy but it’s a comedy,” Williams explained.

“It shines as a comedy, it’s definitely not just about the romance.”

“It’s an honest depiction of the struggle between the characters. The comedy aspect will make it shine.”

The novel, published in 2005 by St. Martin’s Press, has appeared on the New York Times Best Seller’s List and USA Today’s Top 150 list.

“I had definitely seen it around. It was on my radar,” Williams said of the novel. “It was such a fun, yummy read.”

“There are definitely differences in the film from the book. The little changes might anger devoted readers,” she added.

Williams plays Claire in the film.

“Claire is a strange bird,” Williams said.

“She would love to be Darcy. She loves clothes, she’s an Upper East Side New Yorker.”

“She’s madly in love with Ethan (Krasinski) and they bond over feeling like outcasts in their group,” she added.

“I think I’m more of a Rachel girl,” Williams said. “She represents everyone who feels like an outcast. I could never be as cool as Darcy.”

The inspiration for the role came from an unlikely source.

“Ms. Piggy was my inspiration,” Williams confessed. “Claire is completely unaware and kind of a snob. I learned a lot from playing her. She’s a hoot.”

One of the exciting parts of working on the film for Williams was working alongside some of Hollywood’s finest.

“I was the least famous person on set. I saw the inner-workings of how people react to famous people,” she said.

“On my first day on set I was really nervous and I went up to a big SUV and asked if they were going to set. There were five hybrid Cadillacs waiting for the top actors. I’m number six on the call sheet.”

“The sixth vehicle, the one that I was in, was a 1989 Dodge Caravan. It had a bunch of extras and me. But I got the front seat which was nice,” she added with a laugh.

Another surprise for Williams was the amount of improvisation and flexibility in the script.

“John (Krasinski) was given the license to say whatever he wanted. He was really, really, really fun.”

“I’m not a person who can spontaneously say funny things. I was more calculated and wrote alternative joke lines,” Williams admitted.

One scene between Ethan and Claire was almost completely improvised.

“There’s one scene in the bedroom where Claire asks if she can stay in his room and he tells me he’s gay to get rid of me.”

“I end up trying to help him become a gay man out of the closet. So he says ‘I’m gay’ and I say ‘great, amazing, we’ll work through this together.’”

“So he would improvise and I would throw them right back. There’s always an energy behind the scene that’s fun to play with.”

Williams studied at Boston University’s School of Theatre Arts, graduating in 2001.